Brown Pelicans at Breton NWR: The Pelican Web

On November 11, 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Sam Hamilton today announced that the brown pelican (Pelicanus occidentalis), a species once decimated by the pesticide DDT, has recovered and is being removed from the list of threatened and endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has developed a Post-Delisting Monitoring Plan, designed to monitor and verify that the recovered, delisted population remains secure from the risk of extinction once the protections of the ESA are removed. The Service can relist the brown pelican if future monitoring or other information shows it is necessary to prevent a significant risk to the brown pelican.

A critical part of their habitat are nesting grounds on the Louisiana coastal islands of Breton National Wildlife Refuge. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has implemented programs and projects to study and conserve the pelican and this critical habitat. The programs include banding and satellite tracking of pelicans and habitat restoration programs on the islands.

Regardless of de-listing, we will continue to support conservation efforts and further scientific research on the brown pelican. Most critically, we are responding to serious damage done to the refuge by Hurricane Katrina.

To learn more about the pelicans, their habitat and conservation programs, see the pages shown in the (graphic) menu below.